Rotary engine



2 Sheets-SheetL N. J. VERRET 8v T. H. MOONEY.

Patented Mar. 30, 18972;:Wllllllllll/llllIll//Illlll/llllllllllllllllll% ifi/ ROTARY ENGINE.

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' ROTARY ENGINE.

N0.`579,851. Patented Maf. so, 1897.

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'UNITED Tnrns PATENT Fries.

NICHOLAS J. VERRET AND THOMAS I-I. MOON EY, OF PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,851, dated March30, 1897. Application led May 4, 1896. Serial No. 590,178. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern- Be it known that we, NICHOLAS J. VERRET andTHOMAS H. MOONEY, of Pine Blu, in the county of Jefferson and State ofArkansas, have invented a new and Improved Rotary Engine, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved rotaryengine which is simple and durable in construction, very effective inoperation, and arranged to utilize the motive agent to the fullestadvantage.

The invention consists principally of an annular cylinder provided withslidable steamcushioned abutments, an inlet and an eX- haust port onopposite sides of the abutments, and a revoluble piston having cam-headseX- tending into the cylinder and adapted to move the'abutments outward.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details andcombinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter andthen pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification,

in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts inall the figures.

Figure l is a cross-section of the improvement on the line l 1 of Fig.2. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig.l. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the improvement on the line 3 3 of Fig.2. Fig. L is an end elevation of the reversing-gear. Fig. 5 is asectional plan view of the cut-oif mechanism, the section being taken onthe line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of part ofthe valve-shifting mechanism, and Fig. '7 is a sectional end view of thesame on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

The -improved rotary engine is provided with a cylinder A, in whichoperates a piston B, having cam-shaped heads B extending into theannular sides of the cylinder to form the latter into a number ofcompartments adapted to take steam alternately, as hereinafter morefully described. The heads B operate in conjunction with abutments C,fitted to slide in suitable guideways in the cylinder, as is plainlyindicated in Fig. 1, said abutments being pressed inward in contact withthe cam-shaped backs of the heads B by pressure of steam, and theoutward-sliding motion of the abutments is controlled by the saidcam-shaped backs. The piston B is mounted loosely with its hub B2 on thedriving-shaft D, said hub being journaled in suitable bearings A',formed in the heads of the cylinder A. The shaft D is connected with thehub B2 either directly by a key D or a clutch E, slidable on said shaftand engaging with one clutch-face E2 a clutch-face B3 on one end of thehub B2. Vhen the piston rotates in the direction of the arrow a', asimilar rotary motion is given to the shaft D.

When it is desired to give a reverse motion to driving-shaft D from therevolving piston B, then the following arrangement is provided; theclutch E is shifted by a lever E', under the control of the operator,for moving the clutch-face E2 out of engagement with the clutch-face B3.The rotary motion of the hub B2 is transmitted by a gear-wheel F,secured on said hub, to a gear-wheel F, in mesh with the gear-wheel Fand secured on a shaft F2, journaled in a suitable bracket attached tothe cylinder A. On the shaft F2 is fastened a gear-Wheel F2, connectedby an intermediate gear-wheel F4 with a gear-wheel F5, mounted to rotateloosely on the shaft D and formed on its hub with clutch teeth FG,adapted to be engaged by the clutch-face E3 on the clutch E, opposite tothat on which the face E2 is located. Now it will be seen that when thelever E is manipulated and the clutch E is shifted to the right todisconnect the faces E2 and B2, then the face E3 moves in mesh with theface F6, and consequently a rotary motion in the inverse `direction ofthe arrow a is given to the shaft D by the several gear-wheels abovedescribed.

In the cylinder A and on the opposite sides of each abutment C arearranged an inletport ct and an exhaust-port h, of which the inlet-porta is adapted to register with a small port c of a rotary valve G,mounted to turn in suitable bearings attached to the cylinder A. Therotary valve G is provided with a larger port d, connected at all timeswith a steam-inlet pipe II, connected with a boiler or other suitablesource of supply. The valve G is also provided with a port e, adapted toconnect with the passage leading to the guideway for the abutment C, sothat the latter is held in contact with'the back of the head B IOO bysteam-pressure. The guideway i'or each abutment is also adapted toconnect by a groove f in the valve G with an outlet Il', so that theabutment C can readily move outward at the time the steam escapesthrough the outlet Il to the air. By this arrangement cach abutment C issteam-cushioned.

Now in order to impart the desired rocking motion to each valve G, so asto move the port c in and out of register with the port a and cut ollthe steam sooner or later, we provide the following device: Thevalve-stein G' of each valve G is provided at one outer end with acrank-arm G2, conn eeted with a bar l, formed on its free end with aninwardly-projecting hook I and with an outwardly-projecting hook l2. Theinwardly-projecting hook I is adapted to be engaged by a toothed wheelJ, secured on the hub B2 of the piston B, so that the wheel J, engagingthe hook I', pulls on the bar I to impart a swinging motion to thecrank-arm G2, so as to rock the valve G and move its port c in registerwith the port a. Before being released by the hook l sliding oft thetooth of the wheel J the sliding bar K comes down, so as to engage bythe tooth K the tooth l2 on the bar I and hold the valve open. Steam cannow pass from the inlet-pipe H, through the valve G and the ports e anda, into the interior of the cylinder between the abutment C and theadjacent head B. lVhen this takes place, the other port c is in registerwith the guideway for the abutment C, so as to hold the latter incontact with the back of the next following head B. The other hook l2 isadapted to engage a tooth K' on the sliding or reciprocating bar K,fitted to slide in a suitable casing K2, attached to one cylinder-head,as plainly indicated in Fig. 3. This sliding bar K engages the rearsurface of the hook l2 and holds the valve G in an open position, asindicated at the top of Fig. l, until said sliding bar K is pushedoutward by a toothed wheel L, so as to release the bar I and to permit aspring N, pressing on the crank-arm G2, to close the valve G relative tothe ports c a and at the same time connect the groove f with theguideway for the abutment C. The toothed wheel L thus forms, with thebar K, a tripping device for the valve G, so as to cut off sooner orlater, according to the position of the teeth on the wheel L. The wheelL, besides turning with the hub B2, can be turned so as to shift itsteeth into different positions relative to the bars K, so as to cut oilsooner or later.

The cutoff-controllingdevice is arranged as follows: 0n the hub B2 isarranged a key B4, on which is fitted to slide longitudinally a collarO, engaged by a lever P, under the control of the operator, for shiftingsaid collar longitudinally. On the collar O are arranged inclined slotsO, (sce dotted lines in Fig. 2,) engaged by pins Q', held on a wheel Q,mounted to turn in a bracket R, secured on one of the cylinder-heads,said wheel Q earryin g the toothed wheel L. It will be seen that therotary motion of the' hub B:2 is transmitted by the collar O to thewheels Q and L, and by shifting the said collar O longitudinally theslots O' engage the pins Q to cause an additional turning of the wheelQ, so that the position of the teeth on the wheel L relative to the barsK is shifted.

Now it will be seen that we employ three heads B' on the pistons B andfour abutments C, so that two of the abutments are always in engagementwith one of the heads B. By this arrangement we give four successiveimpulses to the piston B in each compartment for each revolution, so asto insure a continuous rotary movement with full pressure, whereby themotive agent is utilized to the fullest advantage. It is furtherunderstood that while one valve delivers steam to the cylinder to act onthe corresponding head B the steam acting on the next following head isacting under expansion, as this valve was eut oit at the desired time.

llaving thus fully described our invention, we claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patentl. A valve-operatin g mechanism for rotaryengines consisting of a rocking or oscillating valve, a link connectedthereto to oscillate the same and provided with teeth upon oppositesides of the outer or free end, with a revolving toothed Wheel adaptedto engage one of these teeth and reciprocate said link7 a catch adaptedto engage the other tooth and hold the link, and means for releasingsaid catch, substantially as described.

2. A valve-operating mechanism for rotary engines consisting of arocking or oscillating valve, a link connected thereto to oscillate thesame and provided with teeth upon opposite sides of the outer or freeend, with a revolving toothed wheel adapted to engage one of these teethand reciprocate said link, and a cam-wheel revolving with the toothedwheel and adapted to release said catch, substan tially as described.

3. A valve-operating mechanism for rotary engines consisting of arocking or oscillating valve, a link connected thereto to oscillate thesame and provided with teeth upon oppo site sides of the outer or freeend, with a revolving toothed wheel adapted to engage one of these teethand reciprocate said link, and a cam-wheel revolving with the toothedwheel and adapted to release said catch, and means for adjusting theangular position of said wheels whereby the release is made earlier orlater, substantially as described.

4. A valve-operating mechanism i'or rotary engines consisting of arocking or oscillating valve, a link connected thereto to oscillate thesame and provided with teeth upon opposite sides of the outer or freeend, with a revolving toothed wheel adapted to engage one of these teethand reciprocate said link, and a cam-wheel revolving with the toothedwheel and adapted to release said catch, and means IOO TIO

for adjusting the angular position of said Wheels consisting of asliding collar upon the piston-hub and within the releasing Wheelhub,one of these having a spiral cam-slot and a pin upon the other engagingthe slot, substantially as described.

5. In a rotary engine, the combination of a revolvingpiston having aplurality of vcam or piston heads, and a set of steam-ports one ineXcess of the number of piston-heads, a sliding steam-operated abutmentand a rocking valve for each set of ports, and means for operating saidvalves comprising a link pivotally connected to the Valve and having atooth upon each side of the outer end thereof, a revolving toothed Wheeladapted to engage one of the teeth on the bar or link to reciprocate thesame, a spring attached thereto for securing its return, a slideengaging the opposite tooth on the bar or link to retain the valve inits open position and a revolving cam-Wheel engaging said slide torelease the valve-link, substantially as described.

6. In a rotary engine, the combination of a revolving piston having aplurality of cam or piston heads, and a set of steam-ports one in excessof the number of piston-heads, a sliding` steam-operated abutment and arocking valve for each set of ports, and means foroperatingsaid valvescomprising a link pivotally connected to the valve and having a toothupon each side of the outer end thereof, a revolving toothed Wheeladapted to engage one of the teeth on the bar or link to reciprocate thesame, a spring attached thereto for securing its return, a slideengaging the opposite tooth on the bar or link to retain the valve inits open position and a revolving cam-Wheel engaging said slide torelease the valve-link, and means whereby the said releasing cam-Wheelmay be shifted on its shaft so as to release said link earlier or later,substantially as described.

7. A rotary engine, provided With a cut-off mechanism for rocking4valves, said cut-off mechanism comprising a rocking valve provided Witha spring-pressed crank-arm on its stem, a bar pivotally connected Withsaid crank-arm and having inwardly ,and outwardly projecting hooks, acontinuously-revolving toothed Wheel adapted to engage the inwardlyprojecting hook, and a toothed Wheel having a continuous rotary motionand adapted to trip said bar and release the outwardly extending hook,substantially as shown and described.

8. A rotary engine, provided With a cut-off mechanism for rockingvalves, said cut-off mechanism comprising a rocking valve provided Witha spring-pressed crank-arm on its stem, a bar pivotally connected Withsaid crank-arm and having inwardly and outwardly projecting hooks, acontinuously-revolving toothed Wheel adapted to engage theinwardly-projecting hook, a toothed Wheel having a continuous rotarymotion and adapted to trip said bar and release the outwardlyextendinghooks, and means, substantially as described, for turning the last-namedtoothed Wheel in addition toits regular turning movement, to change theposition of its teeth relatively to the bars, as set forth.

NICHOLAS J. VERRE'I. THOMAS H. MOONEY.

Witnesses:

A. W. MILLS, D. S. MILLS.

